Jeffrey Donaldson denied doing “anything untoward” to a woman who accused him of sexually abusing her as a child during an incident in which he allegedly shone a light at her, Newry Crown Court has heard.Police interviews with the former DUP leader following his arrest in March 2024 were played to jurors during the third week of his sex offences trial.Donaldson, who denies all 18 charges against him in relation to two alleged victims, told detectives he could only “pinpoint” one incident “a number of years ago” when asked about the first alleged victim, known as Complainant A.Earlier in the trial Complainant A – who cannot be named for legal reasons – alleged that in her early teens she woke in the night to find Donaldson “over the top of me” holding a bright light with her nightie pulled up and “lying with my legs kind of open”.“I knew he was looking at my private parts,” she said.On Monday, audio of the interview carried out with the former Lagan Valley MP at Mahon Road police station, Portadown, was played to the jury.It followed his arrest at his home in Dromore, Co Down, along with his wife, Eleanor Donaldson, on the same date.Asked by detectives about Complainant A, he replied: “The only thing I can pinpoint in all of this was one particular incident that occurred a number of years ago. “She woke up and was startled by this ... she thought I was shining a light at her, and, you know, I didn’t have a light. I wasn’t doing anything untoward.”Pressed on the matter by police, he added that “at no stage” has Complainant A “ever said to me that I touched her or did anything inappropriate on that occasion”.Referring to the two alleged victims, the detective asked: “You are aware of the two complainants involved and the time frames we are talking about.“Is there anything you want to say about this?”Donaldson replied: “No.”The DUP leader and his wife were arrested on March 28th, 2024, in relation to sex abuse offences.Jurors will hear the first of four interviews conducted over a 4½-hour period with Jeffrey Donaldson on Monday and Tuesday, along with interviews with Eleanor Donaldson.Junior counsel for the prosecution, Fiona O’Kane, said the interviews with the former DUP leader were edited to three hours with the “consent of the defendant”.At the beginning of each tape, he is cautioned.Jeffrey Donaldson, dressed in a navy suit and blue tie, sat in the dock making notes as the 42-minute recording was played.During the interview, he told police that his political career put a “strain” on his marriage.He described his job as an “all-consuming role”.The Donaldsons married in 1987.“Like other couples, we’ve had good times and our difficult times. We’ve always been together,” he said during the interview.“Me being away [as an MP] put a strain on our marriage. No doubt about that.”The 63-year-old denies 18 charges linked to two women, referred to as Complainant A and Complainant B, who allege he sexually abused them when they were children.Of the 18 charges on dates between 1985 and 2008, 10 – one count of rape and nine of indecent assault – relate to Complainant B. The other eight – four of gross indecency with or towards a child and four of indecent assault – relate to Complainant A.Eleanor Donaldson (60), of the same address, has denied five counts of aiding and abetting in connection with the charges faced by her husband.She has been ruled unfit to stand trial on the basis of medical evidence and is instead facing a trial of the facts, running concurrently with her husband’s trial.The trial continues.